With digital payments gaining traction, the Reserve Bank of India, on Thursday, announced significant measures for the sector, including a Digital Payments Index (DPI), as well as a plan to establish Self-Regulatory Organisation (SRO).

Noting that digital payments in India have been growing rapidly, the RBI said it will periodically publish a composite DPI to capture the extent of digitisation of payments.

“The DPI would be based on multiple parameters and will reflect accurately the penetration and deepening of various digital payment modes,” the RBI said in the Statement on Developmental and Regulatory Policies, which was released along with the sixth bi-monthly monetary policy statement.

The DPI will be made available from July. The RBI also announced that it will put in place a framework for establishing an SRO for the digital payment system by April to help foster best practices on security, customer protection, and pricing.

“With substantial growth in digital payments and maturity gained by entities in the payment ecosystem, it is desirable to have a SRO for the orderly operations of the entities in the payment system,”it said, adding that it will work as a two-way communication channel between the players and the regulator and supervisor.

In recent months, digital payments have seen more-than-robust growth, with transactions on the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) and BHIM App touching a record high.

The RBI also unveiled plans to launch a pan-India Cheque Truncation System (CTS), which will be made operational by September.

“The CTS, which is currently operational at the major clearing houses of the country, has stabilised well and it has made large efficiency gains,” it said.

The RBI had introduced this system in 2010, which allows for faster clearing of bank cheques through electronic imaging rather than physical movement of the cheque. At present, it is operational in some major cities.

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